SOE Unit Plan Rubric 2008

Student Name: Lionel T
Assessor: Jay Fogleman
Score: 43/45

Comments/Notes:

• Nice overview, and explanation of your planning priorities. I liked that you expressed your "stealth" objectives up front so that readers can understand the purpose of some of you plans.
• Your unit plan would be more accessible if you copied your context paragraph from each lesson and inserted it after the lesson link on the unit plan's front page.
• The Science Ring metaphor has legs, i.e. I think it might be a useful tool. You need to flesh it out more. The cards must add value from the student's' perspective, else they will see it as an inauthentic gimmick. You should buy some different colored index card, make a sample collection, play with your ideas, and share them with colleagues to extend your thinking. Here are some questions I have:
  • What is the cost of the supplies? Is there funding at the school or will it come out of your pocket. (If the latter, then you might have to modify your ideas.)
  • What are the advantages of this tool over paper? How is putting information on the (sturdier, more portable) cards helping students learn?
  • What is the science ring modeling? Scientists building a personal knowledge base? Scientists collaborating to construct usable knowledge? You should think through these questions.
  • What preparation is required? Do you need hole punch 200 index cards of each color? How to do that?
  • Will students take their ring apart and rearrange the cards? If so, how should cards be labeled/ numbered? Should they be dated? Should they include the unit name?
  • Will you have summary cards that can be pulled out to study for tests? Will you have skill cards that can consulted for later activities?
  • How will you structure the card-making so that the ring becomes an opportunity for creativity, self-expression, and possibly competition? Will you give awards for prettiest /most informative data card? Most cards in ring? Other awards? The idea is to leverage students' desires to express themselves, be creative, rise above the crowd, explore the topic further, accumulate the most cards, win, etc. (Isn't this the way scientists approach science?)

Required Revisions.

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Evidence/ Comments:

5

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4

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4

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3

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4. Students are treated as scientists throughout unit.

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Evidence/Comments:

4. Some accommodations are cited.

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Evidence/Comments:

3. Opportunities to bring in media to represent ideas are missed.

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Evidence/Comments:

4

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Evidence/Comments

4

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4

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4

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NSTA Content Evaluation

Number	NSTA Standard			Portion of Unit Plan	Score	Evidence / Comments
1a. Content:	Understand and can successfully convey to students the major concepts, principles, theories, laws, and interrelationships of their fields of licensure and supporting fields as recommended by the National Science Teachers Association;			•Unit •Overview •Rationale •Unpacking Learning Goals •Concept Map	4
1b.	Understand and can successfully convey to students the unifying concepts of science delineated by the National Science Education Standards;			•Two Benchmark* lessons. (* Lesson whose primary activity is conveying information)	4
1c.	Understand and can successfully convey to students important personal and technological applications of science in their fields of licensure			Lesson Plans
1d,	understand research and can successfully design, conduct, report evaluate investigations in science. and understand and can successfully use mathematics to process and report data, and solve problems, in their field(s) of licensure.			Inquiry Lesson Plan(s)	4
2. Nature of Science. Candidates:	understand the historical and cultural development of science and the evolution of knowledge in their discipline; understand the philosophical tenets, assumptions, goals, and values that distinguish science from technology and from other ways of knowing the world; engage students successfully in studies of the nature of science including, when possible, the critical analysis of false or doubtful assertions made in the name of science.			Lesson Plans	5	Science inquiry cards used to describe nature of science.
3. Inquiry Candidates	understand the processes, tenets, and assumptions of multiple methods of inquiry leading to scientific knowledge; engage students successfully in developmentally appropriate inquiries that require them to develop concepts and relationships from their observations, data, and inferences in a scientific manner.			Inquiry Lesson Plan(s)	4
4. Issues Candidates	understand socially important issues related to science and technology in their field of licensure, as well as processes used to analyze and make decisions on such issues; engage students successfully in the analysis of problems, including considerations of risks, costs, and benefits of alternative solutions; relating these to the knowledge, goals and values of the students.			Unit Rationale Lesson Plans	3
5.a General Teaching Skills Candidates	vary their teaching actions, strategies, and methods to promote the development of multiple student skills and levels of understanding; successfully promote the learning of science by students with different abilities, needs, interests, and backgrounds;			Lesson Plans	4
5. c-e Candidates	successfully organize and engage students in collaborative learning using different student group learning strategies; understand and build effectively upon the prior beliefs, knowledge, experiences, and interests of students; and create and maintain a psychologically and socially safe and supportive learning environment.			Lesson Plans	4
6. Curriculum Candidates	understand the curricular recommendations of the National Science Education Standards, and can identify, access, and/or create resources and activities for science education that are consistent with the standards; plan and implement internally consistent units of study that address the diverse goals of the National Science Education Standards and the needs and abilities of students.			Unit Rationale Learning Goals Concept Map	4
7 Community Candidates	identify ways to relate science to the community, involve stakeholders, and use community resources to promote the learning of science; involve students successfully in activities that relate science to resources and stakeholders in the community or to the resolution of issues important to the community.			Lesson Plans	3
8. Assessment Candidates	use multiple assessment tools and strategies to achieve important goals for instruction that are aligned with methods of instruction and the needs of students; use the results of multiple assessments to guide and modify instruction, the classroom environment, or the assessment process; use the results of assessments as vehicles for students to analyze their own learning, engaging students in reflective self-analysis of their own work.			Assessment Plans Lesson Plans Summative Assessment	4
9. Safety Candidates	understand the legal and ethical responsibilities of science teachers for the welfare of their students, the proper treatment of animals, and the maintenance and disposal of materials; know and practice safe and proper techniques for the preparation, storage, dispensing, supervision, and disposal of all materials used in science instruction; know and follow emergency procedures, maintain safety equipment, and ensure safety procedures appropriate for the activities and the abilities of students; treat all living organisms used in the classroom or found in the field in a safe, humane, and ethical manner and respect legal restrictions on their collection, keeping, and use.			Lesson Plans	3